These days the adoration has been coming daily, and it appears justified considering this Dolphins receiver's feet and hands have been singing some sweet tunes lately.

It's been a long time since Turner, last year's third-round pick, has been showered with praise, inside and outside of the Dolphins' organization. Actually, last training camp was the last time he deserved mention. But this former USC standout is yet again off to a respectable start, replicating some of last year's noteworthy catches.

Turner said his goal is to prove he's fully recovered from a back injury that forced him to miss all of the offseason's training program. During that three months Turner watched other receivers get better. But coach Sparano has been pleasantly surprised that Turner's absence hasn't stopped him from making plays during the team's first week of work.

"Each day I'm gaining more and more confidence," said Turner, who was only active for two games last season because he wasn't a front line receiver or a strong special teams contributor.

So while fellow rookie Brian Hartline, who happened to be selected 19 picks behind Turner, blossomed into the starting receiver he is now, catching 31 passes for 506 yards and scoring four touchdowns last season, Turner wondered when his time would come.

He impatiently waited for his first NFL catch. It never came, and Sparano admitted was one of his biggest regrets about 2009 was that he didn't get Turner more involved.

Making worse for Turner this offseason was the fact the Dolphins added Pro Bowl receiver Brandon Marshall to fill the big, physical receiver void Turner, who is 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, was drafted to fill.

All of a sudden Turner goes from promising youngster to injured receiver on the hot seat, battling for that fifth receiver spot on the 53-man roster.

Outside of a productive rehabilitation stint with the trainers, Turner admits getting his mind right, a little mentoring from Marshall, has contributed to his resurgence.

"It can be a setback for you not being out here getting reps [during the offseason], but that's with any injury. It's your job to battle back and fight through that," said Turner, who finished his collegiate career with 139 receptions for 1,752 yards and 17 touchdowns.. "I come out here every day showing them what I can do. It's a show me game, so I come out here with purpose, do my job, and the rest is up to them."

With Marshall and Hartline projected as Miami's starting receivers, and Davone Bess and Greg Camarillo entrenched as their backups, Turner's realistically competing with Grice-Mullen, Julius Pruitt and Taurus Johnson, last year's two practice squad receivers, Marlon Moore and Roberto Wallace to remain the team's fifth receiver.

According to Sparano, what comes after that is up to him, and will likely be determined on how he performs during the scrimmages and exhibition season.

"Consistency for Pat is going to be important," Sparano said. "He's starting to play, doing some good things. He's made some good catches with his hands and gone and gotten the ball a few times. But the consistency thing is what I think is probably the most important."

Can Turner keep turning it up?

"I'm just trying to keep climbing the ladder, keeping trying to do things better, and keep getting better day by day," Turner said. "I just want to keep building as camp goes on and we'll see where it takes us."

Omar Kelly can be reached at okelly@SunSentinel.com and read regularly on the Dolphins blog at SunSentinel.com/dolphins.